Secret Shades of Silver
by Lee Black
Summary: HIATUS When Harry receives a mysterious letter and his father's diary, some things start to change - and not all of them for the better. Starts out JP/LM, later HP/LV. There will be an M rated pounded in later.
1. Chapter 1

As for the disclaimer to avoid getting sued and ending in the poorhouse, here we go. JK, Warner, and pals, PLEASE leave me alone. I am fucking broke. I mean no harm. I don't make any money from this, I just like fucking with other characters. You own everything (well, everything but Socrates and Fachtna, they're my creations). Me no steal, you no sue. Me just borrow, you just chuckle.

Here's the actual fic:

**Chapter 1**

Harry looked at the diary that had just been delivered to him by owl - he was out in the backyard of a currently empty Number Four Privet Drive, waiting the mere moments until he turned sixteen years of age. As was not unexpected, he was quite cautious when it came to strange diaries, given the Tom Riddle catastrophe that had occured back in his second year. The owl that had delivered the package looked him over as he waited for Harry to at least read the letter attached to the front of the diary.

"I'm not sure about this," Harry said to himself as a warm breeze drifted over him, but he decided to allow his curiosity to take control and he opened the letter. Hopefully Dumbledore had spoken true when it came to his promises to re-enforce the wards around his house and this letter held nothing that would cause him harm.

It seemed like a rather innocent letter when he read it over, as it were.

_Young Mister Potter,_

_Your perception of James Harold Potter, your father, has been deliberately skewed and certain facts about him have been hidden from you that should have been known to you (and one other person) since at least your birth, if not before. All will be explained in good time, though._

_While I insist on remaining anonymous at the moment, I assure you I mean you no harm. _

_The diary enclosed in this package belonged to your father and I think it best you have it before certain … nefarious individuals get their hands on it. I have not tampered it in any way, other than re-enforcing the wards in place - no one but the relatives of James Harold Potter can decipher the words written therein. I trust you will know enough to keep it secret from all - there are those in power who would like nothing more than to make sure this diary is not read and the truth remains hidden._

_My owl may stay with you for quite some time, though he will not act as a mail owl for you. Please allow him to stay with you, as he means you no harm._

_Please keep this letter to yourself. Merely having it in your possession, along with the diary, is enough for certain authorities to 'Obliviate' you._

_You must learn the truth. I will not allow this truth to be hidden any longer._

_Until my next post to you,_

_Consider me a friend._

It was quite a shock, and at first Harry thought it was someone's sick idea of a joke, but his curiosity passed up to the diary. Just as he was about to open the diary, a shifting in the grass off to his left side caught him by surprise. He let out a loud hiss and jumped, startling the owl into the tree nearby.

"_Calm yourself, young one. I am not here to harm you,"_ a small, quiet voice said with a hissing chuckle. It was a small black snake that seemed to know Harry was a Parseltongue, though he was unsure as to how.

"_Then why are you here?"_ Harry asked, keeping his voice quiet bow.

"_I was sent to investigate the child who smells lightly of Dark magic."_ It looked up at Harry with tell-tale red eyes and Harry felt a sharp tang in his head when he met the gaze of the snake. It was a basilisk.

"_Who sent you? And what do you want with me?"_ Harry asked, not addressing the fact that the snake had mentioned him smelling at all of Dark magic. He tensed when the snake made itself comfortable on his stomach and regarded him with the red eyes.

"_I am not here to harm you, though I was sent by another snake, hidden in the forest. It was not a Basilisk like myself, it was rather quite powerless. I want to be your companion."_

"_I thought Basilisks were almost invincible,"_ Harry retorted. He closed his eyes and layed back, not complaining when the Basilisk settled in and closed his eyes, as if it were about to go to sleep.

"_I have no doubt that grown Basilisks are incredibly powerful, but I was born a mere fortnight ago."_ It hissed something incomprehesible before shifting in position. _"You can protect me, as the boy who smells of Dark magic and speaks to serpents must be willing to understand the delicacy of my situation. There are those who wish to exterminate me simply because I was born. Perhaps I may offer some sort of assistance to you in return for your protection?"_

"_Who says I am offering you my protection? And what could you offer me?"_

"_Companionship, trust, and when I am older, my protection. I would be indebted to you for the rest of my life should you choose to protect me from the ones who would wish death upon me."_

Harry was silent for a long moment before he allowed himself to speak to the snake again. He had to keep some constraint in himself before he either accepted or dismissed the not-yet-deadly Basilisk's offer. _"What is your name, snake?"_ he asked.

"_I am called Fachtna."_

Without another word, though an apathetic hum responded to Fachtna, Harry closed his eyes and let everything that had recently happened wash over him.

The next thing he knew, he was waking up as the sun was rising over the fence, telling him he had slept much longer than h probably should have. He opened his eyes but did not sit up - the diary and the letter were clutched quite tightly in his left hand and the Basilisk - Fachtna - was asleep on his chest at the moment. The snake was likely more of a nocturnal creature, but he still found it strange to find that the snake seemed comfortable enough with him to curl up and go to sleep right in front of Harry.

He sat up carefully, not wanting to disturb the volatile creature, and held it in his free hand as he walked back into the house. Once again he was unsettled by how eerie the house was without the Dursleys there, though their lingering presence may well have contributed to the uncomfortable feeling he got from simply standing as he was. Fachtna shifted a bit but did not seem to wake as Harry headed over to the couch and opened the diary to the first page. Looking over at the young Basilisk and ensuring it would remain out of direct harm's way while he read, he turned his full attention to the diary.

_Hello. My name is James Harold Potter. _

"_I am more than what I seem." I hear that statement everywhere and yet I fear it cannot, will not, ever apply to me. I am what is seen - Gryffindor, prankster, almost an idiot, and a whore. It depresses me, really._

_I have slept with almost every student in my year, and many of the students in higher years. Everyone knows that I am the Gryffindor Whore, and only a few of them know that I prefer Slytherins in bed. The bad stigma they have accrued from the Dark Lords that have sprung from thier midst gives them quite a bit of repressed tension that makes them great in the sack. _

_The only one I refuse to sleep with is Severus Snape. He seems far too willing to slit my throat rather than to accept what I have to offer._

_I am merely what I seem._

_Sirius has things he hides, things that make him more than what he seems. His love for Remus, for instance. Perhaps a badly hidden secret - the only reason I have yet to extend my offers to either of them is because they are already going at it almost nightly in our dorm room, and being able to watch them is the only consolation I get. They make each other happy, and that is not something I particularly care to disrupt. They are my friends, after all._

Harry read through the entire diary, not stopping unless he needed to relieve himself - which only happened once. The diary was interesting, though Harry wasn't particularly keen on reading about his father's various sexual conquests, nor his frustrations with Lily Evans for not being willing to take him up on his offer.

The entries near the end of the diary were what made him the most suspicious about the authenticity of this journal.

_December 3_

_Lucius Malfoy has become an obsession to me. I am unable to escape him, even in my dreams. Speaking of which, they have become increasingly more vulgar, even by my standards. _

_We have recently been studying non-human creatures who have mates pre-destined for them, such as Veelas and werewolves - which has made me wonder quite a bit about how deep the relationship between Siri and Remy really is._

_Anyway, my obsession has led me to start thinking that perhaps, in some twisted form of the idea, that I may Lucius Malfoy's mate. It isn't the least bit surprising to think that Lucius is not a human creature. I rather find it … arousing … to think that I may be entitled to the exquisite creature that is Lucius Malfoy. He has been acting a bit odd around me. Whenever I find myself around him - or he around me, for that matter - he has been acting quite possessive and almost affectionate towards me._

_December 15_

_He came to me, Lucius did. On the train home for winter holidays, he came into my compartment and we had a rather serious, private conversation between the two of us._

_Lucius Malfoy, like all other Malfoys before him, is a Wood Elf. _

_As far as knowledge of these creatures go, which is really not much at all, Wood Elves are one of the rarest of their species and they never reveal themselves to humans, unless their mate is such. They are completely Pureblood, in the highest meaning of the word, and the few who have been revealed to the public as Elves by traitorous Mates have been held in the highest regard - likened to royalty._

_He told me this and much more, though he did promise he would give me time to digest the information he just layed upon me._

_It is quite strange. _

_The dreams were to alert me of my mate's identity, and the positions I found myself in revealed, unsurprisingly, that I was to be the submissive and Lucius was the dominant. Honestly, though, I cannot see Lucius taking dick up the ass - he's far too composed and in control to allow something like that to happen._

_I have agreed to join him at the Estate he has been given by his father - also a Wood Elf - to get acquainted with his new mate. My father won't mind. Hell, we haven't spoken since he found out I sucked Longbottom off in the hallway outside the Great Hall at midnight. I haven't promised him anything but my silence. I am not going to tell anyone Lucius' secret. _

_I do not know what to expect from this._

It grew more and more disturbing. The one thing that sent shivers down Harry's spine was the entry dated November 13, the next year.

_November 13_

_I realize that Lucius loves me. _

_I also know that I am not willing to follow him to the Dark side of the war. He knows this, but he cannot stand Headmaster Dumbledore meddling in his life any longer. I know what he plans to do and I know I would rather stay neutral than fight at all, especially given what I have just learned._

_I am with child._

_I do not know how it happened, but I could not be happier. I carry with me the child of my mate. _

_I am in my second of eleven months and only I know. No one other than me knows about this pregnancy, not even Lucius. I cannot tell him. I cannot jeopardize his future._

_What am I to do now? I don't know where to go from here._

_I feel lost._

_Lily has been hounding me for a date, says I have been spending too much time alone - which is rich coming from the little loner Muggleborn that she is. Dumbledore seems to enjoy the idea of Lily and me ending up together, but I want with all my heart to be able to spend eternity with my mate._

_I don't know what to do._

_How am I supposed to get through this all on my own?_

He stared at the page in front of him, lost when the meaning sunk in and he didn't know what to think. He wasn't exactly sure that the diary was authentic, but he still wanted to know what had really happened to this James Harold Potter, the Gryffindor Whore who was the mate of an Elf.

Once again checking on Fachtna, he allowed himself to return to the diary and continued reading.

And there you go. Chapter 1. Chapter 2 is on its way, but any comments are both helpful and greatly appreciated.

An official title request will get sent out when things get to be more clear, unless I get an idea for the title that works.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Me no own. You no sue. Thank you, come again.

Anyway, I figure it best to get to the point sometimes, so here goes.

MPREG and points to male/male relationships here. Don't like, don't read.

**Chapter 2**

He made it to the end of the diary without feeling too confused until he noticed a small, barely visible envelope on the back of the last page of the journal. Careful not to disturb the rest of the diary, Harry opened the envelope and pulled out an immaculate, untouched letter that he noticed immediately was addressed to him. Not sure what else he could do, Harry read the letter without hesitating.

_To my dearest son_

_Before anything is explained you must know that I love you with all that I am - I always have and I always will. _

_Now, on to the matters that you must keep to yourself. Build up your mental shields so that no one can invade them and use this information against you. If you are reading this, I have been murdered. _

_There is far too much to explain in this letter, but perhaps when you read this letter you will find in your possession a diary of mine that offers some information that will offer you a deeper explanation. I do apologize for leaving you when you are so young._

_I do know there are a number of people who wish me dead. I know of only one person who may be on his way at this very moment to take it upon himself to deal with the problems I have caused._

_You are my son, but Lily Evans has nothing to do with you, other than the attempts at maternal instinct that she subected you to. You are my son, and you are the son of Lucius Malfoy. Please forgive me, my son. I know this letter is a crude and cowardly way of telling you the truth, but this is the only way I know how to tell you. Not even Lucius Malfoy knows of your relation to him, as I was too much of a coward to tell him the truth. So much for Gryffindor courage, huh?_

_Lucius Malfoy is a Wood Elf. Keep that fact to yourself, as it will cause not only the upheaval of too many innocent lives, but it will bring to light many things that people in positions of power have killed to keep in the dark. I was his mate, and for a time I accepted that fact. I found myself loving Lucius, fully returning his affections. _

_But a man in a social position as Lucius' and a man in a social position of my own could not ever be seen together, so I turned down his proposition of bonding and I left him. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, and there are many other things some people might regret more than that. I still love Lucius, even as I pen these words, as I know he aches for me. He explained the finer points of Elven mating to me, and perhaps the fact that he revealed so much about his species to me only added salt to the wounds I created when I spurned his formal advances. _

_Likely he will hate you, but forgive him. He thinks you the product of an unfaithful, traitorous mate and an overbearing Mudblood. _

_I truly hope that one day Lucius can learn who you truly are, and I can only hope he is willing to put aside what I have done to him and that he can accept you as the son you are to him._

_If you find yourself seeking answers, seek out Severus Snape. I trusted him and he has proven to be entirely trustworthy, and he is doing the best thing possible in this war - he is trying to work things out so that, no matter who wins, he comes out as victorious. Trust him. Learn from him. Ask him what I swore him to secrecy about. Remember this: "I am more than what I seem." The phrase will come in handy later, I promise you._

_There is far too little time to explain things properly. _

_I fear my death soon comes, along with Lily's and I can only hope you will survive the wrath of this tyrant. Harry, my son. My dear, sweet, innocent child. Forgive me for my abandonment and my cowardice._

_I truly hope you will live and grow to be the strong man I could not be._

_Gringotts holds some answers as well, but ask for the Potter accounts directly. I have hidden more answers for you there._

_Again, my son, forgive me. Do not hold Lucius' behavior against him._

_Good bye, my son. I love you, always._

_James._

He was startled out of the daze he had been in since about halfway through the letter when someone knocked on his door. Harry hesitated, not trusting it to be safe.

"Open the door, Potter," came the acidic voice of Professor Snape. It sounded as though he had been either woken up far too early or disturbed from his potion-mixing when he had been instructed to visit Harry, as the boy could not understand why his Professor would show up at the Dursley's home. When Harry hesitated yet another moment, another response came. "Potter, open the door. I do not have the time to deal with your childish antics."

Harry opened the door and was quite surprised to see his Potions Professor wearing almost casual Muggle clothing - a pair of black formal slacks and a black turtleneck sweater. He was perhaps even more surprised to find his hair in a twisted, tangled sort of pigtails tied up in pink bands.

"Professor, what's -"

"I have no time to deal with your trivial questions. I was instructed to bring you to Spinner's End in order that I may answer the questions you have."

Harry crossed his arms as Severus walked in and looked oddly at the sleeping Basilisk on the couch. "And how do you know I have questions?" he asked coolly.

Without looking at Harry, Severus answered him. "Your father has a way of making sure his son is taken care of, even when he is deceased."

"What do you mean, sir?" Harry asked, picking the diary and the letter up, shoving them into the pocket of his cargo pants, hoping Severus wouldn't ask about them. Receiving only an arched eyebrow in response to his actions, Harry seemed surprised when his Potions professor pulled out a Muggle Sharpie and offered it to Harry.

"Well go on, boy. I have only a short time before I am in serious trouble. It is merely a Portkey to Spinner's End."

Harry looked back at Fachtna, making sure he was still asleep, before touching the Sharpie and feeling the tell-tale tugging on his stomach.

He stumbled a bit, feeling nauseous when they arrived in what had to be a living room and immediately a young girl, no older than four years old ran into the room and latched onto Severus' legs.

A moment later an attractive young woman walked out of the room the girl had escaped from and looked Harry over before turning her soft amber eyes onto Severus. "Are we having a guest for dinner, Sev?" she asked, her voice reminding Harry quite a bit of Remus' - it had the same tired but happy quality that the werewolf acquired when he had been recovering from the full moon with Sirius at his side.

"I do not know yet. Has Natalia been recovering?"

"So it would seem." She knelt down to be somewhat eye level with the young girl, who grinned at her right away.

"Hi mommy," she said, her innocent grin turning worried at once. "Are you going to make me take any more of that nasty medicine?"

"No more, Nat, I promise."

"Can we go out to the lake and see if the gryphon will come back?" Natalia asked and the woman nodded.

"Of course. Go to the kitchen and get the food you fixed for the gryphon. I'll be right there, alright?"

The girl nodded and ran into the kitchen and the young woman stood again, looking back at Severus. "I suppose we're having another picnic dinner, then."

"I'll be out in a bit Siobhan," Severus said, leaning down and kissing the woman on the cheek. "Be careful, and don't let her go swimming while she still has a fever."

"Of course," she said quietly.

Once she and Natalia had left the house, Severus led Harry into what was likely his office.

Harry sat down in a chair when Severus motioned that he do so, but he then asked, "Was that your daughter?" The look Severus sent him almost had him take back the question.

"I am not as old as I look, Potter. Remember that I went to school with your father, and as he became your father when he was only seventeen years old, neither of us would be that old. Siobhan is my wife."

"I didn't know you had a wife. Or a daughter," Harry said quietly, feeling less comfortable when he mentioned the fact that Severus had a daughter. It seemed the room had dropped quite a few degrees, but he tried not to let his discomfort show.

"My family is not something I allow many people to know about. Only three people other than myself know about them, not including you. Draco and Lucius Malfoy know, as does the Dark Lord."

"You trust him with your family, the Dark Lord?" Harry asked, unable to stop himself.

"The world is not as black and white as you have been taught to see it, Potter," was all the explanation he offered. "I did not bring you here to discuss my wife and child. I brought you here because you have questions that deserve answering."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Severus levelled a cool gaze on Harry. "You don't have many other options at the moment. You could approach Lucius Malfoy and then he would lash out at you, thinking it a trick from Dumbledore and basing that information on what he knows, which is not much. You could approach Dumbledore with these questions, but that would guarantee a Memory Charm being placed on you and the destruction of that book in your pocket. Or you could do what your father did and approach the neutral party, burdening them with the responsibility of keeping your secrets until you deem it time for the vow of secrecy to be dinsintegrated," he said. "Do you want answers or not?"

"Yes, sir."

Severus nodded and then turned to a cabinet, unlocking it with a simple word. "The answers are all to be found in these memories," he said as he pulled out a Pensieve. "I will leave you here to review the memories and I will return in an hour's time. Do not try to see everything, as overwhelming yourself will only cause pain and further confusion." He headed for the door and Harry looked back at him.

"Thank you sir."

As he heard the door lock behind him, he stared into the Pensieve and allowed the memories with the most sense of urgency to wash over him.

_James Potter was lying on the floor, a rag in his mouth to muffle the screaming, as Severus performed a crude C-section on the man. This was one of the one times that Severus had refused to use either magic or potions to assist the birthing - he had never before acted as mid-wife when a man was the one giving birth and seeing as the child in question was half Wood Elf, he didn't want to risk the Elven mate finding out and maiming Severus for harming his mate or his child in any manner._

"_Breathe, Potter. I cannot have a dead body on my floor come dawn," Severus said dryly, likely in a sarcastic attempt to calm the frantic man._

_Blood spilled from James' makeshift womb and soon the sounds of an infant crying sounded clear through James' cries of pain._

_Another half hour passed and Severus had bandaged James' stomach and wrapped the child in another set of bandages as a makeshift diaper. Severus helped James sit up a bit and he allowed the Gryffindor to lean against him as he caught his breath and recovered from just giving birth to his son._

"_You do need to name him, Potter," Severus said almost gently, though one could clearly see he was uncomfortable._

"_You were just groping my intestines, Severus. I think that might warrant you caling me by my first name."_

"_Fine. __**James**__," he said, being blatantly sarcastic. "You need to name your son."_

"_Harry. Harry Lucien Potter."_

"_That middle name sounds incredibly similar to the name of the youngest Malfoy, you realize." A silence came about before Severus spoke, conjuring a glass of water for both he and James as he did so. "He needs to know that his mate has given birth to a son."_

"_No," James said, surprising Severus and startling Harry with how forceful he had sounded when speaking. "Lucius has moved on. He has Narcissa now and I cannot let him ruin his life because of something like this."_

_Severus growled and stood. "You have no idea what you are doing, do you? He is your mate, and you are his! You two were destined to be together and you broke him when you left him! Hiding this is like telling him you wish he was dead!" he snapped. "There is no greater insult, no greater horror to a creature, even a man such a Lucius, than hiding from him the fact that he has a bloody son!"_

_The newborn Harry started crying and James looked almost close to tears himself._

His vision blurred and another memory appeared before Harry's eyes.

_Lucius was confused. He saw a toy that clearly belonged to a boy-child laying on Severus' floor just behind him but the Potions Master was refusing to let him in, even refusing to answer his questions._

"_Sev, just tell me what's going on. I can't get any answers about what happened to James. All I know is that someone attacked him and he's gone missing. What potions are you mixing for him?" he asked, not liking at all the way his voice sounded like he was pleading._

_Severus took note of this fact but said nothing about it. "I am not allowed to say, Lucius. You know that Dumbledore has me under any number of secrecy vows when it comes to what he requires I do for him," he said. "When I see James to administer the next dosage of potions, would you like me to inform him that you inquired as to his health?"_

_Lucius dropped his head, his Glamour shimmering off to reveal an overly tired, almost malnourished Wood Elf, and Severus' eyes widened. This was tormenting both James and Lucius too much for him to want to continue to abide by the vows that James had him under, but he knew he could do nothing to get out of the vow, save killing James and that was something he absolutely refused to do. "No," Lucius said quietly, no lifting his head up. "Don't tell him about me at all. He doesn't want anything to do with me, and it is all I can do to satisfy my bond and my duty to make him feel better to just make it seem as though I never existed."_

"_Trust me," Severus said, leaning against the door and sighing heavily. "That is not the best thing to do. I worry about you, Lucius," he said._

"_I will cope. I have Narcissa now and that is where I must stay," Lucius said. He turned away and Apparated back to the Malfoy Manor he had so recently inherited, but Severus would have sworn there had been tears in the ever-stoic Malfoy's eyes._

Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and he was pulled out of the memory. Severus was staring down at the Pensieve, not saying anything for a long moment.

"Has it really been an hour?" Harry asked.

"It has. Come," he said, regaining his composure and becoming once again the Potions Professor, though without any of the spite he normally held when speaking with Harry. "Siobhan has informed me that you are to stay for dinner, and Natalia is waiting to question you as to what you are doing here."

"Why are you helping me, sir?" Harry asked as they walked out to the lake behind Spinner's End.

"You are not the only one who received a letter, Potter," was the only response Harry received before they joined the two women at the lake shore.

Author's Note: Siobhan and Severus have their own side story, which will be posted shortly (and updated just as sparsely).


End file.
